Gamahime
by soaring bubblegum
Summary: She remembered her bloody bloody hands, oh there was so much blood, and the man's face, surprised eyes looked at her in disbelief. She had stared right back, not understanding what had just happened. Her hands were moist, too moist for her liking.
1. The Name of the Wind

**Gamahime**

_(Toad Princess)_

**Chapter 1 -** **The Name of the Wind**

* * *

A five-year-old Naruto looked back and forth from the person she most dearly loved and respected to the busty blonde woman with a scary attitude in wonder. Apparently Jiraiya-oji had brought back the woman from Kami knows where to Konohagakure no Sato, how he had managed to do so didn't register into little Naruto's mind. She blinked for there were some words, the complicated ones, that she could not understand yet but the woman was obviously saying no while Jii-chan tried to convince her.

Uzumaki Naruto looked up to the ANBU-san that was currently at her side, holding her little hand in his. Now, usually with the cloaks and masks it was pretty difficult to discern male from female but for some unknown reason she had always known which person was a man or a woman. Jii-chan had told her that she had enhanced senses. This particular ANBU-san was a boy, a teenager at most, and his mask was that of Ookami-san.

The ANBU-san looked back at her with spiralling red and black eyes and she couldn't help but smile up at him. After all, it was known within ANBU-san that she liked those kinds of eyes. She didn't know why, and she didn't particularly care, but Jii-chan had actually raised an old eyebrow at the knowledge. ANBU-san patted her hair with his other hand and returned to his original position.

Ookami-san was one of, as Jii-chan said, her bodyguards. They took care of her wellbeing and safety. Meaning they got to kill anyone who harmed her. It had actually happened very often, and she was no stranger to death, but as she looked with child-like wonder as a man died she couldn't feel bad or guilty. The one who usually took care of the whole killing thing wasn't Ookami-san but Inu-san.

She looked to her left to see the other ANBU-san of her group of bodyguards. Little Naruto was fond of Inu-san, for he had been with her for as long as she remembered and actually knew who he was. Hatake Kakashi and his summoned dogs had kept her company always. While ANBU-san were usually silent, Inu-san talked to her about whatever she wanted to know. He told her stories of his missions, of his sensei, who had been this Yondaime Hokage person, and his former teammates. Inu-san also described the outside world for her.

Inu-san eye-smiled at her, for he was not wearing his Inu-san mask and she grinned back at him. He took her other hand and resumed his previous position. Actually, she knew little about Ookami-san. He had pretty eyes and really black hair; he was young for an ANBU-san apparently. Little Naruto knew that his name was Uchiha Itachi, one of the important people of the village, but little else. Inu-san had told her that Itachi-san had a little brother named Sasuke who was her age. She had been ecstatic to know that Sasuke could become a friend of hers but later she realised that while she was in her white house she couldn't befriend anyone who wasn't ANBU-san.

Little Naruto started to giggle and the adults actually turned their heads to look at her. She blinked back as the laughter died. "Sorry, Kurama-sama said something funny." She explained while smiling.

Jii-chan's eyes widened and she frowned slightly in worry. Had she done something wrong? She didn't want to go back to her white house. The Hokage approached her and got down to her eye-level while frowning in thought. "Who is this Kurama you speak of, Naruto?" he asked.

"Well, Kurama-sama is a very gentle person, you know." She smiled again in delight. "I wish I could meet him in person, he told me it wouldn't be… " She scrunched her face in concentration. "Wise! That's it! So, he told me he was a really big fox with nine tails. Weird, right? I haven't seen a fox with nine tails! But what he tells me is always the truth so I guess…"

Seeing as her left hand was being squeezed by Inu-san she promptly shut up and looked at her hand and then up to the worried face of Inu-san. What? Why didn't they understand? Kurama-sama was very nice to her compared to the other people that lived in Konoha! She harrumphed and freed her hands from their captors while crossing her arms in a pout.

"Oi, kiddo." Someone called. She smiled at Jiraiya-ojii, who had just jumped in the Hokage's office via window. Little Naruto ran to him and tackled his legs, which tore a chuckle from her Ojii-chan. "So you say that you've been talking to the Kyuubi, eh?" At her nod he sighed. "I see, what has it told you?"

She frowned. "Kurama is not an _it_! He's a _he_! And _he_ says that I shouldn't have told you that I could talk to him because you would do bad things to _me_!" Little Naruto let go of her Ojii-chan's legs and crossed her arms again in anger. She spaced out for a few seconds and she frowned childishly. "A-and Kurama never lies! He says that he'll never lie to me because I'm his… his…" she pouted because she couldn't find the word but lightened up as it was told to her. "Vessel! Yup, that's what he said."

The Sandaime sucked in a gulp of air and sighed. "Naruto, are you telling me that you are now talking to the Kyuubi and to us?" he asked with a troubled voice.

Naruto grinned and nodded. "Yup! He said that our minds are… connected? Or something like that so that I'm… able to speak to you and to him simul-sim-" she threw her hands to the air and gave a frustrated cry. "Why are words so difficult!" she pouted. "_Great_! Now he's laughing at _me_!"

Ookami-san let out an amused chuckle and everyone looked at him with surprised expressions. Never mind that Naruto could talk to a bijuu, or that Naruto actually trusted it. Naruto growled in annoyance. "_What_? You too Itachi-san! How unfair!"

Naruto's rant about fairness ceased and everyone looked at her curiously, she seemed to be concentrated on something that was clearly bothering her. She furrowed her brows, pouted and finally glared at them. "I'm not leaving with that _lady_." She sniffed. "Kurama says that she's a bad influence for me."

The busty woman glared at her and snorted. "And you believe that that thing has better judgement than Sarutobi-sensei? Gaki, you're mad."

The little blonde spitfire took a step towards her and glared harder. "Yes! I love Jii-chan but he's been _lying_ to me all this time! Kurama told me the _truth_! No-one of _you_ did!" she blinked and tears started to form. "H-he told me that my mummy was his p-previous vessel! A-and that my daddy is this Yondaime and, and you, you _never_ told me!" Tears streamed down her face while it twisted with anguish. "He told me th-that's the t-truth and, and I believe him! You told me you didn't _know _who they were!"

Naruto continued sobbing while the adults watched in contained sadness. Actually the busty woman glared icily at the Hokage. She hadn't known anything about this! The child had the right to know that her parents were heroes to the village! Senju Tsunade approached the little wreck of a girl and lifted her towards herself, hugging her tightly.

Lulling the girl to sleep she glared heatedly again towards all the male presences in the room. "She's _mine_, and no one of you have any say in the matter, are you hearing me, sensei?" she snarled. "I can't believe you actually lied to her face and went along with your life as if nothing was _wrong_!" She whirled towards Jiraiya, "And you! You useless blob of meat! You didn't tell her anything? You're her fucking godfather for Kami's sake!"

Jiraiya winced. "It's an S-class secret, Tsunade-hime. Punishable by death." He sighed as Tsunade faced his next victim, which happened to be one very guilty Hatake Kakashi. "Kakashi wasn't allowed to talk to her about her parents, but that doesn't mean he didn't tell her things about their lives." He rubbed his face with his hand. "I think it's best we let her rest for now and talk to her tomorrow. Then, there's the whole Kyuubi thing…"

* * *

Birds chirped and a very annoyed little blonde growled at being waken up so rudely. Her dream hadn't been nice at all. First she had seen a scene she'd rather forget. It was very dark, midnight she guessed, and someone who was not an ANBU-san had broken in her apartment after very confusing actions she had grabbed a kunai that the unknown man had dropped while fighting Karasu-san with detached wonder. The man saw an opening and took it, lunging at her with a short sword. Naruto had panicked and brought the kunai to her chest, facing towards the evil man.

She remembered her bloody _bloody_ hands, oh there was so much blood, and the man's face, surprised eyes looked at her in disbelief. She had stared right back, not understanding what had just happened. Her hands were moist, too moist for her liking. Ookami-san had regarded the scene with swirling blood red eyes and she had smiled at him uncertainly.

That was when she had blacked out of the unpleasant dream and jumped into a less distressing one. In this one she was falling, merely falling while puffy clouds floated around her and a pretty blue bird flew at her side. Now, she just kept falling. Down below was a pretty big lake surrounded by a forest. Still, there was no end to that particular dream.

Naruto changed into a summer yukata that Jii-chan had given her a few weeks ago. It was simple, blood red with swirling patterns around the lower area and her sleeves in yellow. The obi was black with a golden silk rope to decorate it. She huffed and went into her little kitchen not surprised to see Inu-san and Ookami-san sitting there. Well, Inu-san was sitting while Ookami was standing against the right wall. Kakashi waved at her while Itachi-san nodded once and went back to… whatever he was doing before.

She went to the table, grabbed a chair and dragged it towards the kitchen fires. The two ANBU watched as a five-year-old girl went about her kitchen as if it was meant to be. No child should be comfortable with fending for themselves at this age. She made some pancakes, eggs and picked an apple from the fridge while humming a soothing song. Little Naruto dragged the chair back to its proper place and moved the plates from the kitchen to the table and setting the required utensils to eat. She put three glasses on the table and filled them with delicious fresh milk. Satisfied with herself she sat down and waited for Ookami-san to sit.

She smiled as he did so and grabbed her fork. "Itadakimasu."

The other two said the same and started to dig in. Little Naruto started with a pancake coated with chocolate and placed an egg in her dish. Munching happily she recalled the events of the previous afternoon. Kurama said that the encounter had been too emotional for her and that she had blacked out. Also, he explained that she would, most likely, leave Konoha for the sake of living with the angry lady. She pouted internally at the fox. How unfair. Kurama had been kind enough to tell her that the village was a dangerous place for her to live in, since the villagers harboured a deep hatred for her and for Kurama.

While snorting derisively he had told her that the civilians believed that she and him were the same entity. She had giggled, it was silly. She wasn't a mountain-sized fox! The comment had amused the Kyuubi but he had corrected her. He was bigger than the Hokage Mountain. Little Naruto had oohed and aahed at his size, making the old demon a bit proud of himself.

Naruto was a bit hesitant to leave Konohagakure. While the villagers treated her like trash the shinobi were mostly okay. Some were wary of her but didn't mistreat her or anything. After all, Jii-chan would've been very angry with them if they had done so. Speaking of the old man, they had this funny game where she had to maintain a leaf on her head without making it fall. It had been quite tricky at the beginning, but with everyday practice she had gotten the hang of it. Jii-chan would place a leaf on his nose and balance it, she giggled, and it was quite funny to watch, really.

"You see Naruto, all human beings have an energy we call chakra. It is a mix between spiritual energy and physical energy and it's what ninja use to do their jutsu. Remember when I summoned Enma?" at the girl's eager nod he had continued explaining. "The jutsu is called Kuchiyose and it summons animals form another place through a pact of blood. But without chakra we can't summon anything."

"Pact of blood?" the little one asked, nose twitching.

He had chuckled and nodded. "You sign with your name using blood as ink on the summoning scrolls that the summons hand out to people if they feel are worthy for them. I have the summoning scroll for monkeys and it has been passed down by many Sarutobi." The girl's mouth formed a big o. "There are other summons, too."

Little Naruto had bounced. "Really?"

"Indeed. For example, Jiraiya has the scroll for toads and Tsunade has one for slugs." He hesitated for a moment. "Orochimaru has the one for snakes and you know that Kakashi-kun has one for dogs."

Naruto sighed and stuffed a bite of pancake into her mouth, savouring the chocolate with gusto. Maybe someday she would get her own summons, she was sure they'd make awesome friends. Kurama told her that maybe when she grew stronger he could give her the fox-summoning contract, since he didn't have it himself even if he was the lord.

"Gochisōsama-deshita." She heard Ookami-san murmur. She smiled to him. "I will be leaving early, Naruto-kun. I have a mission shortly." The Uchiha apologised to her.

Little Naruto frowned and tilted her head. "Is that mission Jii-chan told you to do?" Something flickered in his eyes but he nodded nonetheless. "M'kay. But…" she frowned even more than before. "Take care, okay?"

Itachi nodded again and rose from his seat, approaching the little girl silently. He undid the clasp of his necklace. "I will not be here for your birthday, Naruto-kun. I hope you don't mind a premature gift." He handed the necklace to her and she beamed at him and suddenly threw her arms around his neck, giving him a tight hug. "I see you like it. I'm glad." His face softened somewhat and watched as she put his wooden necklace on, smiling up at him again.

She suddenly furrowed her brows and bolted towards her bedroom. The two ANBU glanced at each other with wonder. The girl was highly unpredictable, after all. Little Naruto returned with sparkling eyes and something cupped in her hands. He took the object from her and allowed a small smile to curl his lips. Itachi heard her rant about how it wasn't fair because she wouldn't be there for his birthday either so she had decided to give him a premature gift too.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." He said as he clasped the leather bracelet on his right wrist, taking notice of the little silver bell attached to it by a chain.

"You like it? That's great! I made it myself, it was a bit tricky making a braid out of leather but Jii-chan taught me how to infu-inf…" she sighed. "Infuse? Yes, infuse things with chakra." Naruto smiled, rows of white teeth and sharp fangs showing. She was positively glowing. Her eyes dulled and for a few seconds both ANBU panicked but let relief wash through them as their intensity returned. "Besides, Kurama says that it will help you." She mentioned in a sharp voice.

Itachi's eyes widened marginally until he sighed quietly and nodded. "Please, relay my gratitude to him, Naruto-kun." The girl nodded and smiled giving him another hug and let him go. Itachi nodded at Hatake-senpai and left through the window.

Kakashi took the opportunity to look offended and he brought a hand to his chest in fake pain. "What? No gift for me? I'm wounded."

Little Naruto stuck her tongue at him but giggled anyway and tucked a hand in her obi, bringing out a cute dog-shaped wallet. It matched her own toad-shaped own, her lovely Gama-chan, so he handed it to him. Kakashi eye-smiled and patted her head. The girl twirled away and started to dish the dirty plates and glasses while the last Hatake watched her.

He was actually remembering a rather morbid memory. Little Naruto had killed twice. It pained him that such a little and young thing could have already blood on her tiny hands. Uzumaki Naruto was the sweetest girl he'd ever met, kind with everyone and everything. The second time she had killed she had stabbed a man with a kunai in self-defence against an enraged civilian while Karasu had been fighting off two more idiots.

The first time had been more gruesome and bloody. It had been at midnight, when the ANBU changed shifts. Itachi and he usually took the nightly ones, because the girl was more of a nocturne being after all. She was sleepy during the day and a ball of energy at the night. The villagers had busted her door open, yelling and cussing at the demon child while she curled up below her bed.

Eventually they had found her, claiming that they would exorcise the evil from the possessed child. When he and Ookami had arrived corpses littered the floor, smelling of scorched flesh and rotting meat. In the middle of it was a very stoic little girl. Staring at the bodies emotionlessly. Her white sleeping yukata was torn and bloody and undone. An angry pink scar was healing and to his horror it went from the middle of her chest to her right hip, slashing through her stomach.

When Naruto looked at them a chill gripped his spine with icy hands and twisted his entrails, setting his gut aflame.

_Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster…_

Her eyes were cold as winter and dead as a rotten corpse. Empty of everything.

…_and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you._

* * *

**Done while listening to _Sora_ of Escaflowne's OST.**

**I'm having a bit of writer's block, so it'll take some time to update the other stories. Also, I had to get this one published because it haunted my mind, so yeah. There you go.  
**

**As always reviews and alerts are highly appreciated.  
**


	2. Kids With Knives

**Gamahime**

_(Toad Princess)_

**Chapter 2 – Kids With Knives**

* * *

_**Somewhere in Suna no Kuni**_

Sweat trickled down her patient's brow as she hummed a soothing tune to ease his pain while she deftly applied her hands to his stomach. Her hands were enveloped in a green hue, which encased a black nasty-looking blob of something.

Gasps and grunts of suffering escaped the man's throat, not fazing the medic at all. After all, pain was an everyday thing to her. She twitched her fingers and small bubbles of blackness rose from the patient's body and reunited with its bigger counterpart in the green energy.

The patient sighed in strained relief as he watched the young medic. She was now moving the black thing towards a wooden cup, more likely to study its contents on a later date. He rose from the bed and sat down at the edge of it a bit awkwardly.

He felt a murderous aura crushing him and he looked wildly around, highly alarmed. Only to find that the young medic was smiling at him pleasantly, _too_ _pleasantly_. The patient cringed and slowly, as to not alarm the ready-to-pounce cougar that was watching him eerily, resumed his previous position on the bed.

The medic unfurled the sleeves of her simple yukata and let them fall free before hiding her hands in the sleeves. He listened half-heartedly at the orders the medic was telling him and settled on staring at her startling blue eyes. Before he could stop himself the blush that had settled because of the poison doubled its potency, making him look like a tomato.

He was no fool. This girl had some ninja training, after all civilians didn't have easy access to shinobi knowledge. Old Nana had told him when he was little that usually there were three types of shinobi: the lone wolf, lived alone and didn't allow himself or herself to love anyone so they could be free of useless bonds while doing work. In the end, they died alone.

The second type were the ones that stuck with shinobi ways and didn't even acknowledge civilians as people on the same level as them. Usually they kept to themselves and ended up marrying another shinobi. The happiness was usually short-lived, as shinobi usually didn't make it past 25.

The third type, or the more 'ordinary' ones, just went off duty after years of service and settled down with a nice civilian wife that took care of them.

He frowned. His case was inversed; he was the nice civilian husband that would take care of his shinobi wife. Usually no sane civilian married a kunoichi, after all their missions were much more… delicate. Of course, most of them weren't pure at their marriages and while this was normal to shinobi, civilians frowned upon non-pure brides.

He found that he couldn't care less about that. Staring at the half-girl half-woman in front of him he scanned her body for wide hips, that would facilitate birthing, and good features. What startled him were her tempest eyes.

They changed with the light. When the sun shone directly onto them they were sky blue, like that of a lazy afternoon with no clouds. They could also turn into a sea-hue when in shadows. In the dark they were more raw, dark with something that he could not see. Those were her tempest eyes.

The medic had been residing with them for a month now, not that he was keeping track of the time, and he had taken a liking to her instantly. She was kind, had manners and was pretty. Well, her features were quite unusual at first, Wind Country didn't have that kind of blonde hair, not to mention the eyes.

Blonde hair was usual in Kaze no Kuni, but not this bright. Hers was gold, like the sun, it shone brightly. Her cheeks were scarred with three lines in each one. Hana-san said that she looked too much like a fox, and as such the old superstitious woman sometimes gave her gifts –offerings really- and clasped her hands in prayer before her and bowed.

The young girl, couldn't be older than twelve, simply smiled with her eyes closed, which only made her more fox-like, and accepted the parcel with grace. She bowed her head in return, which made the old woman feel relieved and waddle away.

Now that he thought about it since the medic had come to their little town the weather had been most forgiving and the ground had grown more fertile. But he didn't believe in the stories of old, that was for little children and old housewives.

He sighed at his own cowardice. He ought to tell her, at least. He would surely be rejected but at least his feelings would have been conveyed to her.

"Are you listening, Takamaru-san?" inquired the female young medic.

He startled out of his train of thoughts and blinked at the girl dumbly, which tore an amused chuckle behind a yukata sleeve from her. Her laughter was pleasant to hear and Hana-san said it was good that kitsune were in a cheerful mood.

"I'm sorry, Uzumaki-san. I was kind of lost in my thoughts." He answered while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment while the young medic smiled at him politely.

"Indeed, it does happen to me ever so often, do not worry about it." She waved her hand dismissively. "Plus, we're quite finished. Remember to take this powder mixed with lukewarm water every day. If you're feeling unwell you must come see me, yes?"

Takamaru nodded in understanding and took the little parcel that contained the powdery white substance with care that was being offered to him by pale and slim hands. His thoughts were wandering again. He cursed inwardly.

When the desert scorpion had stung him he had jumped and screamed in pain while thinking that he was going to die. He tried to walk to the village, limping to ease the pain and unknowingly helping the poison spread more quickly, and fainted halfway of it.

He had been awakened when his nose hit something relatively hard, only to realize that he was looking at someone's back because he was being carried like a sack of rice. The pain in his leg had dulled somewhat but it still hurt and his joints were starting to feel very stiff.

The man that was carrying him was pretty tall and had a spiky mop of brown hair. He also had a hitai-ate, but he could not see the symbol of the village he belonged to. Takamaru assumed he would be a Suna shinobi, after all they were in Kaze no Kuni.

He had panicked somewhat when the man turned his head to see if he was awake and saw that he wore the Konoha symbol engraved on his hitai-ate. Afterwards he remembered that they were at peace with Konohagakure no Sato and sagged against the man, falling asleep again.

Takamaru blinked and watched as the man that had saved him from certain death walked inside the room and exchanged a few words with Uzumaki-san. This only confirmed that the young woman was indeed a kunoichi. She frowned lightly and nodded at something the man had said. Afterwards the shinobi spared a glance towards him and went out of the room, closing the shoji door behind him.

The young girl walked silkily towards him and plastered a reassuring smile on her pale face. He returned the smile easily and stood up carefully, trying not to wobble in front of the medic-nin.

"We're quite finished, you can leave now. Still, be sure to remember to take the medicine and rest, Takamaru-san." She said while she grasped his arm softly and helped him to the entrance, where a wooden cane was waiting for him. Uzumaki-san gave the cane to him and gave him a last smile before she ushered him out of the room. "Be careful on your way back."

He smirked and bowed awkwardly. "I will. Thank you, Uzumaki-san." Takamaru watched as she waved and went into the house, no doubt to analyse the poison and make some kind of unguent for the village to store. Hana-san was good at that stuff.

* * *

She sighed and rubbed her right wrist softy while frowning. Apparently she had been called back to Konoha because she was needed by the Sandaime Hokage. Yamato-san, his new name she presumed since he was ANBU, had arrived two days ago carrying a sealed scroll that required either her blood or the old man's. Usually those kind of messages were carried around with messenger hawks, but it would seem that Jiji thought that the information was delicate.

It would seem that a team back in Konohagakure had lost one of its teammates and had a blank spot that needed a volunteer, or something like that. The squad was made up by two civilian children and the last Uchiha, their sensei being Hatake Kakashi.

Her lips quirked in amusement. She hadn't forgotten her time in the white room, nor Inu-san or Ookami-san. Having Itachi-san's younger brother in her team would be quite amusing to see. What she didn't know was how the villagers would take her return to the village. She hoped that they had forgotten of her looks, but since Hana-san had instantly declared her a benign fox spirit at the service of the god Inari, that would be most unlikely.

Naruto fingered her wooden necklace and sighed. They would be an odd team, a shinobi and two kunoichi and the Copy-Cat Kakashi. Their squad would be used most likely in infiltration missions or ones that needed the finer curves of a female.

She was no stranger to it, since Tsunade-baachan had instructed her in the art of seduction. Shizune-nee had blushed and sputtered when Naruto had come up with the _Oiroke no Jutsu_, which worked perfectly for those kind of missions. It was basically a more realistic _Henge no Jutsu_, but it depicted her body as that of a twenty year old woman.

The other kunoichi in her team, Haruno Sakura, came from a civilian family and thus would not know about the darker tones of being a female ninja in this world. She would have to learn, willingly or not. Plus, she'd also had to overcome her first kill. For men it was usually easier and besides they refrained from showing weakness to anyone. For a girl of twelve this was quite different.

Naruto's mind flashed some dark and bloody images of her childhood but she growled lightly and squashed them back behind one of her multiple memory doors in her mindscape. The fox's eyes flickered red from behind the bars of his cage, the red eerie glow of it lighting up the piece of paper that had written on it 'seal'.

The tailed beast didn't talk to her much or at all. It preferred to be left alone in his brooding state and Naruto didn't care much for him. He had saved her life multiple times and she had silently thanked him for every one of them. The bijuu had sent a sentiment of acknowledgement and little else.

They had first met when she had first killed someone in the white room, while trying to survive. She didn't remember the exact amount of people she had killed, only that they were all male and enemies. Naruto remembered how her vision had gone crimson and something took over and made her kill them.

She hadn't felt guilt or remorse. After all the survival of the fittest was imprinted in her very DNA. Scratch that, she had a beast of primal instinct sealed inside her belly. Which was quite amusing, since people usually thought that bijuu were mindless beasts that slaughtered just because they had a whim.

Kyubi was a rational creature and liked to think things through before making any statement or action. She had learned a great deal form this outlook on life. When she was younger she was rash and used to confront problems headfirst and think about the consequences later. This had changed thanks to the Nine Tails.

Since the beast's chakra meddled with her chakra control she had had problems to put Tsunade-baachan's teachings to practice. After a while of meditation and chakra control training she had managed to balance his chakra with hers. She had also found out that while Kyubi's chakra healed her, and burned her at the same time, it was poisonous to other people. Shizune-nee had tried to extract some from her to further study its properties but the red bubbly and angry chakra had raged against her and made her sick for a week. She hadn't even touched it.

To confirm this she had touched a flower with the Kyubi's chakra and it had immediately crumpled and died. It was indeed poison to other living organisms. This could prove an advantage if someone tried to extract his chakra from her. Plus, it would seem that she was immune to all sorts of natural poison, since Kyubi burned it out of her system. Man-made poison was trickier and instead of burning it Kyubi had examined it and engraved it into her body, thus rendering it harmless.

Naruto had the suspicion that other jinchuuriki like her would be immune to Kyubi's chakra, as she would be to other bijuu's chakra. This put her at a stalemate with other human sacrifices of other villages, but considering she housed the nine-tailed beast and the strongest of them all she doubted other jinchuuriki would come to her with the intent to fight.

She had also discovered that she was quite sensible to everything happening in her range of sight and hearing. Plus, her nose had gotten quite a developed sense of smell since she was little. Tsunade-baachan had told her that her senses were probably more developed that those of an Inuzuka.

They were also sometimes a disadvantage, since many odours were rather disgusting and unsettling. The same would happen with shrill noises or flashes of light, since her senses were quite keen. Naruto had tried to tune noise and smells down for her to not have heavy headaches and had somewhat succeeded.

The young jinchuuriki sighed silently and continued packing her belongings inside her scrolls. She left some polituces and unguents for Hana-san to use and learn to make since she wouldn't be able to return to the village for a long time. Naruto blinked when she saw Gama-chan poking from behind a bundle of clothes and she smiled fondly at the memory. She really hoped that Kakashi still had the Pakkun-chan she had given him. If he didn't she would just pound his rear to the ground for losing it.

She finished sealing everything in the scrolls and placed them on her naked table while humming a cheery tone. Naruto wasn't looking forward to being in Konohagakure again, but she would get to see Kakashi and Pakkun and Jii-chan. The fabric of her white kimono rustled as she placed it on her bed. Now naked she took a quick shower before departing with Yamato-san for Konoha, besides she had to change her kimono to something more comfortable for long walks.

Tying her brown obi gently she proceeded to put her okobo on and arrange her green kimono sleeves skilfully. She checked herself for any imperfections and smiled when she found none. Her hair tied in a topknot with a simple ornament and she was ready to go.

Stashing the two sealing scrolls inside her obi so that they weren't noticeable she stepped outside what had been her house for some time. Yamato-san was waiting for her just outside and he nodded to her.

Naruto blinked when she saw Hana-san and a bunch of villagers come to her. Most of them were the old people, who waddled with a bit of effort, and some children. The men were in the fields working. Old Nana was smiling gently at her for some reason.

The blonde-haired girl smiled gently and bowed respectfully. "I will miss you all." She said between the wails and cries of the children who didn't want her to go away. "I hope I can visit sometime."

The elders nodded and Old Nana bowed her head. "You have been good with us, Uzumaki-san. I hope the wind goes at your back and watches over you." The old woman walked slowly towards her and took one of her hands into her gnarly ones and deposited something in it.

When Naruto looked at it she smiled gently and enclosed her hand around it. "Thank you, I will take care of it." She bowed yet again and tried to unclasp the hands of the children that were sticking to her and rumpling her kimono. "I wish for the wind to be gentle with you and your crops."

With that she turned around and walked towards the ANBU that was waiting for her patiently and they set on the dusty road that would take them to Konohagakure no Sato eventually. It would be a nice change to see the big and old as time trees that enveloped the village in a warm embrace.

Her hands unclasped and a small and crude chunk of wood that could pass as a smiling fox emerged from them.


End file.
